Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” (Proverbs 23:3-5 KJV)

The god of the natural man is self. Worship of self revolves around self-gratification. This idolatry is enhanced in a consumer driven economy such as in the United States. Today is Thanksgiving Day and tomorrow is called Black Friday because it is supposed to be the heaviest shopping day of the year as people hit the stores to buy Christmas gifts at supposedly lower prices. The day is called Black Friday because it is traditional that most retailer’s ledgers and balance sheets get into the black for the first time in the year. As a result we are inundated with sale papers and ads on TV about sales that begin before the Sun comes up.

This consumerism is the fruit of an economic system that is designed to manipulate people into buying things that they would not ordinarily buy. Christmas has become a commercial holiday that is all about buying gifts and spending money. The holiday was supposed to celebrate the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, however, that meaning has been relegated to the back burner or lost in the shuffle. Now, it is all about buying gifts and receiving gifts. To the retailer, it is a time for making money. No matter from what angle we approach Christmas, it seems that it is all about greed. God’s people are called to be different. Their focus should not be on self at all, but on serving their Lord in obedience and love.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-22 KJV)

When we look to what we possess as our “treasure” then that will be where our hearts are directed. Jesus tells us in this passage to not do this. As we saw in the passage from Proverbs at the top of this post, riches or possessions do not last. They are temporal and cannot be depended upon. However, the admonition from our Lord is to not place our hope in them or our trust. Instead, He tells us to lay up treasure in Heaven. This treasure is eternal, not temporal. Jesus tells us that if we place our hope in Him as our treasure then our hearts will be there instead of here. When that is the case, we will not be enslaved to self-gratification. Who does this? How can we do this? We must become Spirit-filled so that we will be guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit. When we do this, we will not be focused on how much wealth we have on earth, but we will be looking to follow our Lord as we carry our crosses in self-denial.

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:22-24 KJV)

This statement by our Lord is an argument from the lesser to the greater. His analogy is very simple. If one’s eye is bad, no light can come in. This leaves him or her in darkness. This is speaking of external perception. However, it is much worse if there is internal corruption within one’s nature. From this corruption, darkness actually emanates from within. This affects that person’s whole being. If a person is in love with money and/or possessions then he or she is driven by self-gratification and is in darkness. Only the Spirit-filled believer is in the light. Only the Spirit-filled believer is genuinely humble. Only the Spirit-filled believer denies and dies to self as he or she follows their Lord in obedience. The self-oriented person is in darkness and serves mammon while the Spirit-filled believer serves God. Mammon refers to earthly, material treasures.

There is nothing wrong with having a job that pays a salary. There is nothing wrong with owning a business. Money is not evil. It is the love of money and things that is the root of all sorts of evil. Why? If our motive is to accumulate or get for self-gratification then we will also do things in an attempt to get more and not lose any in a way that is not ethical or what Christians should be doing. If God blesses us with earnings or gifts or things then we must hold them lightly and focus on Him and His will in how we manage those things.

Let us lay up our treasure in Heaven, not here on earth. If we do that, then our heart will be there. Our motives will be God’s glory, not mammon. This life is short and we have only one time through it to get it right. We must repent of our greed and self-focus and ask that God give us a heart that is filled with His Spirit as we obey Him as He leads and guides. All for His glory!

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7 thoughts on “Lay Up Treasures in Heaven”

Mike, this was the perfect message for this time of year. We must all be admonished not to fall in to the trap of American consumerism and materialism. That comes from the system of this world, and the desires of human greed/idolatry. We should much rather to want to disciple a man in the Lord than buy a new game. We should much rather want to spend time with our Lord in His Word rather than buy that new television that will make us feel fleetingly good.

We all tend to loose sight of the treasure, so thanks for this reminder brother.

Good write up Mike. Unfortunatly when we get together with family on the holidays its all about what its not suppose to be about and it makes us sick. But what do we do?? Do you ever dread holidays? We do. Isn’t that awful…….but its the truth.

Therefore, I urge you brothers through the compassions of God to present your bodies as living, holy sacrifices, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:24-26 ESV)

The way of escape

"To believe that He will preserve us is, indeed, a means of preservation. God will certainly preserve us, and make a way of escape for us out of the temptation, should we fall. We are to pray for what God has already promised. Our requests are to be regulated by His promises and commands. Faith embraces the promises and so finds relief." - John Owen

How to be free from bondage to our flesh and temptation

"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: 'God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.' When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage." - John Owen

Meta

About me

My name is Mike Ratliff. I am a δοῦλος (slave) of the Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν (Lord Jesus Christ.) I have been a Bible teacher since the late 1980's. I am currently learning Koine Greek, which I began in 1992 and will continue to do so until the Lord takes me home. I am Reformed in my theology because I recognize that God is Sovereign over all things. I write these posts as God directs. I am also part of the discernment team at Christian Research Network.

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

by G. D. Watson

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.